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Sam Duffie Hinton (March 31, 1917 – September 10, 2009) was an American folk singer, marine biologist, photographer, and aquarist, best known for his music and
harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...
playing. Hinton also taught at the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...
, published books and magazine articles on
marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies ...
, and worked as a
calligrapher Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
and artist.


Biography

Sam Hinton was born March 31, 1917 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was raised largely in
Crockett, Texas Crockett is a city and the county seat of Houston County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 6,332. Houston County is the oldest county and Crockett the fifth-oldest city in Texas. History The town was named ...
, and studied zoology for two years at
Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...
, helping to finance his education via singing appearances. Leaving college, he moved to
Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, N ...
to stay with his parents, where he worked as a window decorator for a department store and did
scientific illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vide ...
for the Smithsonian in the evenings. While in Washington he and his two sisters Ann and Nell formed a semi-professional singing group called "The Texas Trio," and performed locally. In 1937 the group visited New York City to win a Major Bowes' Amateur Hour competition, at which time he was invited to join the travelling Bowes troupe as a single act. Hinton left school to tour the country with the troupe, finally settling in Los Angeles three years later, where he enrolled at
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
to study
marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies ...
, and met his wife, Leslie. During his stay in Los Angeles, he landed a role in the musical comedy ''Meet the People'' alongside then-unknowns including
Virginia O'Brien Virginia Lee O'Brien (April 18, 1919 – January 16, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and radio personality known for her comedic singing roles in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals of the 1940s. Life and career O'Brien primarily performed in ...
,
Nanette Fabray Nanette Fabray (born Ruby Bernadette Nanette Theresa Fabares; October 27, 1920 – February 22, 2018) was an American actress, singer, and dancer. She began her career performing in vaudeville as a child and became a musical-theatre actress dur ...
, and
Doodles Weaver Winstead Sheffield Glenndenning Dixon "Doodles" Weaver (May 11, 1911 – January 17, 1983) was an American character actor, comedian, and musician. Born into a wealthy West Coast family, Weaver began his career in radio. In the late 1930s, he p ...
.Stambler, Irwin Stambler ''Encyclopedia of Folk, Country and Western Music'' (Grelun Landon), pg. 135. After graduating from UCLA in 1940, Hinton was appointed director of the Desert Museum in Palm Springs, California, where he served from 1942 to 1944, moving on to San Diego, California in 1944 as Editor of Illustration at the University of California Division of War Research (UCDWR), a University of California-wide wartime laboratory that was located at
Point Loma Point Loma ( Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the ...
. In 1946 he was appointed Curator of the Thomas Wayland Vaughan Aquarium Museum at
Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and Earth science research, public serv ...
, and served there until 1964. In 1965, Hinton transitioned to the
University of California at San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
as Assistant Director, Relations with Schools, and in 1967 he became Associate Director. Despite his professional duties, he has continued performing throughout his life. In 1947 Hinton recorded 56 songs, including "Buffalo Boy" and the "Barnyard Song" for the Library of Congress. His first commercial recording, "Old Man Atom" (by
Vern Partlow Vern is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Vernon, Lavern or other names. People named Vern include: * Vernon Vern Bakalich (1929–2015), New Zealand rugby league player * Verdi Vern Barberis (1928–2005), Australian ...
) followed on Columbia in 1950. Over the next several years he also made a number of singles for
Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...
's Children's Series, and in 1952 issued his first LP, ''Folk Songs of California''. After three more efforts for Decca – 1955's ''Singing Across the Land'', 1956's ''A Family Tree of Folk Songs'' and 1957's ''The Real McCoy'' – he moved to Folkways for 1961's ''Whoever Shall Have Some Good Peanuts'' and 1967's ''The Wandering Folksong''. None of Hinton's musical projects distracted him from his academic duties, however, and from 1948 onward he taught UCSD courses in biology and folklore; for the National Education Television network, he also hosted a 13-part series on folk music, and for several years even wrote a regular newspaper column, "The Ocean World," for the ''San Diego Union''. Hinton additionally co-wrote two books on marine research, ''Exploring Under the Sea'' and ''Common Seashore Animals of Southern California''. In 1957, Hinton founded the San Diego Folk Song Society.San Diego Folk Song Society
He made what many contend was his final public appearance at the May 11, 2002 San Diego Folk Heritage Festival, and the daylong event at the Children's School in La Jolla was permanently renamed the Sam Hinton Folk Heritage Festival. As of 2015
San Diego Folk Heritage
continues to present the festival every summer in Old Poway Park.


Bibliography

Books * ''Seashore Life of Southern California; an introduction to the animal life of California beaches south of Santa Barbara.'' University of California Press, 1969. * ''Exploring under the sea.'' Illustrated by Rudolf Freund. Garden City, N.Y., Garden City Books, 1957. * ''History of the Scripps institution of oceanography.'' Compiled by Sam D. Hinton. La Jolla, 1951. Books illustrated by Hinton * Raitt, Helen. ''Papers, 1936-1985 bulk 1952-1954, 1973-1976.'' (correspondence, notes, manuscripts, and other materials concerning the Capricorn Expedition, Tonga, and her work as owner and editor of Tofua Press.) Original illustrations by Hinton. * Hedgpeth, Joel Walker, ''Common seashore life of southern California.'' Illustrated by Hinton. Edited by Vinson Brown. Healdsburg, Calif., Naturegraph Co., c1961.


Discography

* ''Singing Across The Land'',
Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...
DL-8108 (1955) * ''Whoever Shall Have Some Good Peanuts'',
Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...
FC-7530 (1957) * ''The Real McCoy: Irish Folk Songs'',
Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...
DL-8579 (1958) * ''A Family Tree Of Folk Songs'',
Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...
Dl-8418 (1959) * ''Sam Hinton Sings the Song of Men'',
Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...
FA-2400 (1961) * ''The Wandering Folksong'',
Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...
FA-2401 (1966) * ''I'll Sing You a Story'',
Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...
FC-7548 (1972) * ''From an East Texas Childhood'', SH Enterprises (1986) * ''Of Frogs and Dogs and Such'', SH Enterprises (1991) * Tis the Season'', SH Enterprises (1991) * ''The Library of Congress Recordings'', Bear Family Records BCD 16383 AH (1999, recorded in 1947) * ''Sam Hinton: Master of the Solo Diatonic Harmonica'', (2005)


References


External links


Sam Hinton Website

Collection of videos of Sam Hinton

Sam Hinton Discography
at Smithsonian Folkways
Sam Hinton Papers
MSS 0683
Special Collections & Archives
UC San Diego Library.
Sam Hinton Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2003)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinton, Sam 1917 births 2009 deaths American street performers American harmonica players American marine biologists Texas A&M University alumni 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American zoologists